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Hypocholesterolemia, or low cholesterol levels, can be just as dangerous as high cholesterol. Causes include medication, cancer, malnutrition, depression, genetic disorders, and diseases affecting nutrient absorption. Treatment depends on the cause, and doctors may reduce statin doses or ignore it. The risk of disease and mortality associated with low cholesterol is often due to the underlying conditions that cause it.
Hypocholesterolemia is a condition in which people do not have enough total cholesterol in their blood, usually less than 160 mg/dL in the total cholesterol count. In some ways, this condition can be just as dangerous as having high cholesterol or too much cholesterol in your blood, but that danger may lie more in the fact that the underlying conditions that create low cholesterol levels are, in themselves, difficult to treat. It turns out that the human body really needs cholesterol in certain quantities, and when its levels get too high or too low, problems can arise.
The symptoms of low cholesterol are usually related to the causes of the condition and may not be noticed. One of the main causes is taking cholesterol-lowering drugs or statins, and a person taking them may not notice that their cholesterol is lower than normal without blood tests. Other times, the underlying conditions are more obvious. For example, this condition can occur when people have cancer or malnutrition and the symptoms will be those of the specific cancer or malnutrition.
Similarly, there appears to be a higher incidence of low cholesterol in people who are depressed or have PTSD. Also, there are some genetic disorders that cause extremely low cholesterol levels. Conditions affecting the thyroid gland or an overactive thyroid can also lower cholesterol levels. Another common cause is diseases that affect nutrient absorption such as celiac disease.
It has been speculated that the increased risk of disease and mortality associated with low cholesterol has more to do with the actual diseases that create it. Clearly something like cancer has its levels of mortality, which could increase the risk of death. Depression also has a higher risk factor for suicide and this could increase morbidity.
It is easier to link this condition to certain types of body dysfunction, particularly when seen in young people. Cholesterol helps build cells and supports growth. When it is not present in sufficient quantities, growth may not occur normally and development may be undesirably slow. Depending on the cause, doctors might treat it in a variety of ways.
If a person taking statins has low cholesterol, it’s a slightly different matter. The statin dose may be reduced to bring cholesterol levels back into the normal range, or doctors may treat it as not a “disease” and ignore it. There is some difference of opinion on this issue in the medical field. While many doctors view the disorder as being caused by an illness or other condition, some doctors think it will result in a variety of illnesses if not corrected. The medical evidence is not entirely clear on this point, and even the mortality associated with low cholesterol is usually easily attributable to the diseases that appear to cause it.
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